Lynette Kalsnes

Lynette Kalsnes is a producer/reporter covering religion, arts and culture at WBEZ, with a special interest in covering the area's unique and diverse neighborhoods including their religious and ethnic traditions.She coordinates a staff training program and the Pritzker Journalism Fellowship.

Lynette joined WBEZ in September 2003 and has served numerous roles, including editor of the Arts and Culture Desk and the Chicago StoryCorps segment. She previously covered issues including science and immigration with deep dives into immigrant housing and resettlement for Chicago Matters and water policy for Front & Center. Before that, she ran the News Desk and worked as a producer.

Her work has appeared on National Public Radio and Great Lakes Radio Consortium, and been recognized by PRNDI, the regional RTNDA Murrow award, the James Beard Media Award, the Illinois Associated Press and by the Chicago Headline Club with three Lisagor awards. Prior to joining WBEZ, Lynette reported for more than a dozen years at newspapers including the Chicago Tribune, Kalamazoo Gazette, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and the Medina County Gazette, earning several awards.

Lynette is a News Literacy Project Fellow. She served on the board of the Association for Women Journalists-Chicago, chairing the Program Committee. Lynette has a B.A. in journalism with honors from Michigan State University and studied abroad in England. Originally from Minnesota, Lynette resides in Chicago with her husband.

Recent stories by this author

A new exhibit at the Cambodian American Heritage Museum and Killing Fields Memorial sent chills up Soung San’s spine.“Remembering the Killing Fields” uses artifacts, images and oral histories to tell the stories of Cambodians now living in Illinois who survived the Khmer Rouge.Soung San, who survive

The union representing singers and dancers at Lyric Opera of Chicago is threatening to strike.The American Guild of Musical Artists represents nearly everyone on stage at the Lyric: the singers, the dancers, the actors and the production staff.

Wednesday we reported how climate change isn’t just hitting polar bears and melting glaciers. Scientists and advocates say it’s hitting the Great Lakes too. Now, see the land and people who are feeling and researching the impact.

Climate change isn’t just hitting polar bears and melting glaciers. Scientists and advocates say it’s affecting the Great Lakes too, even Lake Superior, the lake that’s so big, all the other Great Lakes could fit inside with room to spare.

Chicago's Joffrey Ballet is planning to lock out its dancers this week over labor negotiations.The Joffrey sent a letter to its dancers telling them to clean out their lockers and turn in their keys by Thursday.

A new report out Thursday claims the Great Lakes states are moving slowly to meet required deadlines under a federal law that governs water use.That compact prohibits water from being diverted outside the Great Lakes basin except for a few exceptions.

A law that’s designed to prevent other parts of the country and the world from draining the Great Lakes is getting its first big test in our own backyard.The water-use compact is part of an agreement between eight Great Lakes states and two Canadian provinces to figure out who can have Great Lakes w